Timothy l



(No Model.)

T. L. BGSART..

MEANS PoR SECURING VEHICLE VIRoNs To AXLES'. No. 585,735. Patented-July 6,1897.

HHS "lill NiTnD STATES PATENT Fries.

TIMOTHY L. BOSART, `OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 585,735, dated July `6, 1897?.

Application filed April 22, 1897.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, TIMOTHY L. BosART, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, inthe county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Securing Vehicle-Irons to Axles, &c. of which the following is a specification.

The object of my present invention is to provide a fastener which shall be a substitute for the usual clips, whereby flfth-wheel irons and such like parts can be held firmly and securely in place; and it consists of two parts, each of which is substantially like one side of a clip, but which, instead of the bent or bowed portion between the sides, are provided with heads which engage with suitable recesses in the under side of the fth-wheel iron or such like part, all as will be hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof and on which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure lis a top or plan view of a lifthwheel structure, including the bolster and fragments of the reaches and of the axle, the fifth-wheel being such a one as is suitable to be provided with my invention. Fig. 2 is a view, on a larger scale, of fragments of the various parts at the point where my fastener is employed, as seen from the dotted line 2 2 in Figs. l and 3; Fig. 3,a sectional view further illustrating the invention, as seen from the dotted line 3 3 in Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a perspective view of one of the fastener-halves; Fig. 5, a fragmentary view similar to a portion of Fig. 2, showing a little different formation of the engaging head of the fasteners; and Fig. 6, an under side plan view of a portion of a fifthwheel iron adapted to this invention and illustrating the formation of the recesses therein.

The several parts shown in the drawings are or may be of any usual or desired construction, except only the fastening means, which will be presently specifically described.

The upper fifth-wheel half A is, as usual, secured to the bolster B, and the `lower fthwheel half C is, as usual, secured to the axle D. The lower lifth-wheel half C is, however, recessed on the under side to receive the heads of the fastener parts. These recesses may be tapered or dovetailed, as shown in Serial No. 633,254. (No model.)

Figs. 2 and 3, or squared, as shown in Fig. 5, the essential point being to secure a formation with which the heads of the fasteners shall securely engage and which will also insure proper contact with the axle. For the latter reason the tapered or dovetailed form has some advantages over the square form, because, as will be clearly understood, particularly by an inspection of Fig. 3, such form will cause the fastener parts as they are drawn down to also draw inwardly toward and against the sides of the axle. The form of these recesses is best shown in Fig. 6. In this view is shown the enlarged central open* ing through which the bolt-heads enter the recesses.

The fasteners E, as above indicated, are for the most part similar to the halves or sides of ordinary clips, and the lower ends are screwthreaded and provided with nuts e in the saine way as such clips and pass through the saddles E also in like manner to the ends of clips. The upper ends @,however, are enlarged so as to form heads which fit into recesses provided therefor in the under sideof the fifthwheel half C.

My invention is employed in the following manner: When it is desired to secure the fifth-wheel half O to the axle, thefasteners E are put in place with the heads e in the recesses in said fifth-wheel halves, after which the assembled device is placed upon the axle, the saddles F. placed in position, and the nuts e' are then screwed up, with the result best illustrated in Fig. 3. As best shown in Fig. 2, this brings the fastening device directly below the fifth-wheel half instead of to one side, and consequently the pull is directly at the point of greatest strain, while no ears on such fifth-wheel half are necessary for the purpose of fastening.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is`

1. A fastener for vehicle-irons consisting of two halves having suitable heads, in combination with such vehicle-irons provided with recesses to receive said heads, the parts being arranged and operating substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination,with a lower fifth-wheel half for vehicles provided with dovetailed re- IOO oesses alongside the point Where it is designed In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my to bear upon the axle, of a fastener composed hand and seal, at Indianapolis, Indiana, this of two halves adapted to extend down and 19t-bday of April, A. D. 1897.

embrace the axle, and provided with tapered TIMOTHY L. BOSART. [L S.] heads adapted to it into said dovetailed re- Vitnesses:

oesses, all substantially as shown and de- CHESTER BRADFORD,

scribed. JAMES A. WALSH. 

